No eye-to-eye contact among JPE, Gigi, Ruby, Janet

MANILA, Philippines - Detained Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, co-accused Jessica “Gigi” Reyes and Janet Lim-Napoles and state witness Ruby Tuason ignored one another during the pre-trial conference at the Sandiganbayan yesterday.

The pre-trial conference was cancelled after defense lawyers argued that the marking of evidence in the preliminary conference has not yet been completed.

Speaking to reporters after the proceedings, Enrile said he is doing okay at the Philippine National Police General Hospital (PNPGH) where he is detained.

“I did not see her, I have no eyes behind,” he said when asked about seeing Reyes again after more than 10 months of detention.

“I am doing a lot of reading, studying geography, demography, capital generation, power competition, currency development,” he added when asked what he does with his time while in detention.

The 91-year-old Enrile last appeared before the Sandiganbayan along with Reyes and Napoles in September last year during the arraignment of the case.

Enrile and Reyes pleaded not guilty to allegations of pocketing public funds through Napoles. 

Reyes is detained at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) female dormitory in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig.

Napoles is serving time for serious illegal detention at the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong.

Before the pre-trial hearing was declared cancelled, Associate Justice Samuel Martires criticized the snail-paced manner by which the case is moving.

“We already celebrated the first anniversary,” he said.

“Must we wait for a second anniversary? What are we waiting for, the elections of the next president, or for the prosecution to produce the originals? We can’t allow ourselves to be captive of any parties.”

Martires made the statement after Reyes’ lawyer Anacleto Diaz complained that documents being shown to them for pre-marking are mere photocopies, not original documents.